BUDDING Brysons and aspiring Austens take note, the Gazette has began its search to find the best short story writers around.
Refill your pens and plug in your PCs because if you have a tale to tell, we want know about it, and there are four prizes up for grabs for the winning amateur authors.
Anyone can take part in the competition and give themselves a chance of winning one of four £50 book token prizes.
There are two categories to enter, the junior jotters, which is for people aged 17 and under, and the senior scribes, for folk aged 18 and above.
Each category has its own exciting theme. To enter the junior jotters contest – which is sponsored by Calcott Hall Farm in Pilgrims Hatch – you can write about anything you like, however, a farm must feature within your story, which can be no longer than 250 words in length.
If you want to pen a yarn for the senior scribes contest – supported by the Brentwood Brewing Company – then you may tell whatever new tale takes you fancy, so long as you mention beer in the piece (maximum 250 words in length).
Each category will have four winners, one selected by Gazette readers and another picked by a panel of expert judges including children's writer Anne Cassidy and novelist Maggie Freeman, as well as representatives from Calcott Hall Farm, Brentwood Brewing Company and the Gazette.
Frances Clamp, the president of Brentwood Writers' Circle, was delighted hear about the competition, which she says offers a great opportunity for youngsters to give writing a try. She added: "When children read they enter the imagination of the author and when children write their own imagination can roam free. This is a gift that can last a lifetime."
Writers' Circle chairman Colin Taylor said: "Competitions can be good, you enter your work and you never know what might happen or where it might lead.
"If you stand in the shadows, life may pass you by – make the time and start it now. Put some words down and then you can improve on what's written. If there's nothing there, it won't develop and neither will you.
"So start now and write 250 words for the Gazette's competition."
The competition opens today and the closing date for entries is November 30.
Send entries to editorial@gazette news.co.uk or write to Short Story Competition, Brentwood Gazette, Kestrel House, Hedgerows Business Park, Chelmsford, Essex, CM2 5PF
